A wild game ended on 31-yard Shayne Graham field goal
with 2 seconds left in overtime Sunday as the Bengals outlasted the Browns,
23-20.
An 11-yard fourth-down run by Carson Palmer in the final
minute of overtime kept what became a 13-play game-winning drive alive.
The Bengals scored to tie it with 1:55 left in the
fourth quarter on a Palmer pass to Chad Ochocinco that came after Palmer
scrambled away from trouble and lofted the ball to Ochocinco in the back of the
endzone. But Shaun Rogers blocked Graham's PAT kick.
The Browns moved into Bengals' territory in the final
seconds of regulation but had to punt with 19 seconds left.
The Browns overcame a 14-0 deficit with a pair of short
touchdowns, a pass from Derek Anderson to Steve Heiden and an Anderson keeper on
a rollout on fourth down late in the third quarter that tied the game at 14.
Trailing 20-14, the Bengals had first and goal at the 5
with just over three minutes left. They got little on their first three plays,
and the Browns used their final timeout before the Bengals' fourth and goal play
from the 3.
Palmer was 0-for-4 in the second half before taking over
and guiding the game-tying drive with 6:27 left at his own 30.
Jerome Harrison had his first 100-yard rushing game and
the Browns' first since 2007.
Joshua Cribbs totaled 207 return yards. Mohamed
Massaquoi was huge for the Browns, catching 8 passes for 148 yards.
The Bengals took a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter
when Leon Hall stropped the ball from Jerome Harrison, popping it into the air
and into the hands of Robert Geathers, who sprinted 75 yards the other way to
the endzone.
The Bengals opened the scoring on a 5-yard TD pass from
Carson Palmer to Chad Ochocinco with 35 seconds left in the first quarter. The
Bengals had marched down the field on the game's first drive but Rogers blocked
Graham's field goal attempt.
Following the Bengals' first two drives, the Bengals
then had five straight possessions end in either three and outs or interception.